20 October 2017

Practical Wargamer. . . Anyone? Anyone?

The cover of an early issue of said magazine.

Another long week concludes in which real life has admirably got in the way of hobby pursuits yet again. That seems to be the way lately, but this weekend is relatively free, and come hell, or high water, I am going to sit myself down to the painting table and do SOMETHING during the next couple of days. What in blazes has happened in the last 40-odd years? Life was not this nutty for our parents!-------------Still, a guy can dream. And read. Even when dog-tired and after collapsing into bed mid-evenings. Which brings me to a related point.

Might anyone out there have, and be willing to part with, the first dozen issues -- numbers 1-12 in 'good,' or 'very good' though not necessarily 'mint' condition -- of Practical Wargamer? So long as your pricing and the cost of shipping don't stray into "Are you kidding me?" territory, I can transfer payment to you forthwith via PayPal.

Just drop me a line (stokes.schwartz@gmail.com), and let's work out the details. Thank you in advance. I now charge weakly and quietly toward bed this Friday evening to drown my hobby sorrows with a cold glass of chocolate milk (made with Hershey's syrup) and some Ritz crackers with JIF peanut butter spread on top. Comfort food in its purest form.-- Stokes

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Later Monday Morning. . .A dark, soon to be rainy, and very Autumn-like Monday. Well, the weekend was no a total bust. I managed to sit down to the painting table for a couple of hours, separated by a long break, Saturday afternoon when I worked on finished those several pairs of Minden Austrian and Prussian standard bearers due to replace single MiniFig standard bearers. Just some buttons and either red or black stocks left to paint in along with the inevitable touch-ups, then I can add the flags, slop on a coat or two of clear varnish, and Bob's your uncle.The way I have handled flags the last decade or so is to print them out on plain old white printer paper, carefully attach them to the flagpoles with a thin layer of plain, old white PVA glue like Elmer's, furl them a bit, and set everything to one side for 24-36 hours to dry hard. I come back later and paint over the printer inks with the usual hobby acrylics, sometimes changing colors in the process to personalize things.

This time, however, I plan to stick as close as possible to historic flags carried by actual units simply because these were/are already so fancy and outlandishly beautiful, that they are, frankly, better than anything I might dream up. This approach to flags worked nicely with that composite unit of Saxon Ernestine infantry that I finished during the late winter of 2016. Interested parties can have another look at those here.Ok, time to stop wasting time and avoiding the inevitable. It is after 9am Monday morning after all.-- Stokes

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"Moin, moin en wellkomm na' Schtollen!"

Welcome to the fictitious land of shiny mid-18th century miniatures organized into LARGE units. I lay the blame for this madness squarely at the feet of hobby giants like Peter Gilder and Doug Mason, whose Napoleonics as seen in the hobby press of the times were a huge influence 35+ years ago. Much later, I stumbled upon Charge! Or How to Play War Games by Brigadier Peter Young and Colonel James Lawford. I was a certified goner by the time I purchased and read The War Game by Charles Grant, to see what all of the fuss was about, plus numerous more recent books and articles by one Brigadier (Ret.) C.S. Grant. Have a look around, leave a comment or two, and explore the blog thoroughly. You're sure to find all kinds of interesting and whimsical stuff here at the Grand Duchy of Stollen!